November 13, 2009 in Business

Avista fights labor ruling

NLRB will hear dispute over dispatchers’ status

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Whether Avista Utilities crew dispatchers qualify as supervisors will be decided by the National Labor Relations Board, once that labor-regulating body fills vacancies on its panel.

A Seattle NLRB regional director recently ruled in favor of a Spokane local that argued that dispatchers are not supervisors and can join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).

The Spokane-based power utility has more than 350,000 customers. It employs 10 dispatchers who work inside a central dispatch center that responds to outages. Their job is to monitor events and decide who to send into the field.

Following the Seattle ruling, Avista attorneys …

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  Pat OLeary on November 13 at 6:18 p.m.

  SOP for American business, pay lawyers and the executive suite millions and beat it out of the little guys at the bottom. What does the CEO of Avista make now? $3, $4 million a year? This for running a monopoly with a profit guaranteed by the state. Where does his skill and acumen enter into the operation. Why does he deserve this kind of compensation and he demands that these employees have no power of collective bargaining? And what do you suppose these dispatchers make? $30, $40 thousand a year? If they can figure out how to do it, these jobs would be gone to India or China in a heartbeat and probably will be soon. All you need is GPS and a map to replace them. The business philosophy of this country is a disgrace to mankind.

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